ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Schwannoma is a rare benign tumor derived from nerve sheaths. When derived from the cervical sympathetic chain, it usually presents itself as an asymptomatic mass located in the posterior cervical region, at paravertebral level. Its diagnosis is not easy, usually requiring multiple imaging tests. Its differential diagnosis includes parathyroid adenoma. CLINICAL CASE: A new case of schwannoma of the cervical sympathetic chain in a patient with a synchronous overactive parathyroid adenoma is reported. This case adds to the sixty described in the literature, although to our knowledge no association between schwannoma and parathyroid adenoma has been reported to date. CONCLUSIONS: Despite being a benign tumor, its treatment is a complete surgical resection. The most common complication after the surgery needed for these tumors is ipsilateral Horner syndrome.
Subject(s)
Adenoma/pathology , Head and Neck Neoplasms/pathology , Neoplasms, Multiple Primary/pathology , Neurilemmoma/pathology , Parathyroid Neoplasms/pathology , Adenoma/complications , Adenoma/diagnosis , Adenoma/surgery , Female , Ganglia, Sympathetic/pathology , Ganglia, Sympathetic/surgery , Head and Neck Neoplasms/diagnosis , Head and Neck Neoplasms/surgery , Horner Syndrome/etiology , Humans , Hypercalcemia/etiology , Hyperparathyroidism, Primary/etiology , Magnetic Resonance Imaging , Middle Aged , Neoplasms, Multiple Primary/diagnosis , Neoplasms, Multiple Primary/surgery , Neurilemmoma/diagnosis , Neurilemmoma/surgery , Parathyroid Neoplasms/complications , Parathyroid Neoplasms/diagnosis , Parathyroid Neoplasms/surgery , Parathyroidectomy , Postoperative Complications/etiology , Tomography, X-Ray ComputedABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: appendicovesical fistula is a rare complication of advanced acute appendicitis and represents a rare type of enterovesical fistula. Its symptoms are vague and imprecise and its diagnosis is difficult, requiring a high level of suspicion. Exploratory laparotomy has been the key for diagnosis and definitive treatment for many years, but recently the laparoscopic approach is standing out among different experienced groups as the method of choice. CLINICAL CASE: we report a new case of appendicovesical fistula in a 45 year old female, who was remitted from Urology with symptoms of persistent dysuria and pyuria. She was finally diagnosed by computerized tomography and the appendicovesical fistula was resolved by laparoscopic surgery. This case adds to the one hundred and fifteen cases published so far and to the four treated by the laparoscopic approach. DISCUSSION: conventional imaging methods are not reliable for the diagnosis of enterovesical fistula. Since most appendicovesical fistula are found to be secondary to non-diagnosed and advanced acute appendicitis in the majority of the consulted publications laparotomy is the key for the diagnosis of apendicovesical fistula. However laparoscopy is described as a diagnostic and therapeutic tool in few articles. We only found three articles in the literature referring to the laparoscopic approach as a therapeutic option. CONCLUSION: computerized tomography is the diagnostic method of choice when communication between the digestive tract and urinary tract is suspected, particularly if the suspected fistula is an appendicovesical one. The laparoscopic approach of an appendicovesical fistula is able to confirm the radiological diagnosis and provide a definitive treatment.
Antecedentes: la fístula apendicovesical es una complicación infrecuente de la apendicitis aguda en estadio avanzado y representa un tipo poco habitual de fístula enterovesical. La laparotomía exploradora ha sido durante muchos años pieza clave para el diagnóstico y su tratamiento efinitivo, pero actualmente el abordaje laparoscópico se está imponiendo entre diferentes grupos experimentados. Caso clínico: aportamos un nuevo caso de fístula apendicovesical en una mujer de 45 años de edad remitida del servicio de Urología por disuria y leucocituria permanente; finalmente, el diagnóstico se estableció mediante técnica de imagen (tomografía computada) y se resolvió por laparoscopia. Este caso se suma a los 115 casos descritos hasta ahora en la bibliografía y a los cuatro tratados mediante laparoscopia. Discusión: los métodos de imagen convencionales no son fiables para el diagnóstico de fístula enterovesical. La mayoría de los casos de fístula apendicovesical son secundarios a una apendicitis aguda no evidenciada y evolucionada. En la mayor parte de las publicaciones consultadas la laparotomía es una herramienta de diagnóstico de la fístula apendicovesical y, en pocos artículos, se describe la laparoscopia como alternativa diagnóstica y terapéutica. En la bibliografía sólo se encontraron tres artículos que hacen referencia al abordaje laparoscópico con fines terapéuticos. Conclusión: ante la sospecha de comunicación entre el tubo digestivo y el aparato urinario, la tomografía computada es el método diagnóstico de elección, sobre todo si se sospecha una fístula apendicovesical. El abordaje laparoscópico de la fístula apendicovesical puede confirmar el diagnóstico radiológico a la vez que constituye una opción quirúrgica definitiva.